Harry and the Harpy
by OfMiceAndLice
Summary: A little experiment with a non-canon pairing and a slight overall AU HP/KB Post DH. Enjoy reading this mess of a Story. (I'm German, so don't expect a lot when it comes to my spelling nor my grammar because obviously English isn't my native tongue. (but I will try my best)) Abandoned
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello everyone, it has been a while. I would like to introduce you to a little project I am currently working on. This will be a little different from the other ones I have published so far and is currently just a slight introduction to lead us towards the high of the story. I hope I won't come back to this story in a few months and say that this is way to cringy to continue. I will try to make this into an HP/KB story which is quite unusual for me. So this will be an experience I will share with you. I hope you will find at least some enjoyment in this mess of a text. I will try to write the second chapter with more structure and a further developed red string.**

The distant chimes of Big Ben echoed through the empty streets of London. A slight fog was laying over the city while the snow was slowly falling from the dark night sky.

A smile crept over Harry Potters face, as he approached the door of the Leaky Cauldron in the west end of London. Harry enjoyed his time in the muggle world, simply because his life there was a far more silent then the circus caused by him simply entering a small store in the Diagon Alley, which happened quite often since he first stepped foot into this magical world.

But this wasn't all. He also chooses to simply destroy one of the most powerful wizards of all time, not once, not twice or even three times. No, of course, he had to destroy him four times. Once as a Baby, which was the root of all his fame, then twice in his first two years at Hogwarts, which wasn't known to a lot of people, thankfully, and of course in his seventh year, which he used to track down the Horcruxes of said dark wizard to set an end to the thread he was to the world.

Only two years later Harry had signed his first professional Quidditch contract, with only one of the biggest English Quidditch clubs, as the star seeker. Adding to his wealth and to his dismay to his fame amongst wizards and witches all across the globe. Harry was now, three years later, at the end of his first contract with the English side _Puddlemere United_ and had won his last game against the _Heidelberg Harriers_ , in the European competition, with a stunning **330** to **110**.

Now with the offseason and him without a contract he had no training and no worries. For the first time in three years, Harry could relax knowing that he wouldn't have to get up and start training within the next few hours. In order to celebrate this, he chooses, instead of being at home all day, to go out and have some fun and maybe even have a drink or two. With that in mind, he set out for the only bar in London where he could be himself and not having to hide behind the false claim of being a muggle.

As he entered the Leaky Cauldron, he noticed how cold it actually was outside, as a flood wave of heated air was streaming past him into the night.

He had hoped that he could slip through to a little table far of the public eye, but this hope was squandered as a female voice yelled: " _Hey, Isn't that Harry Potter?!_ ". Within seconds he was surrounded by about twenty different wizards and witches who wanted him to sign a picture of him on a broom in the Puddlemere kit, introduce themselves or just straight up hug him.

Harry put on his best smile, even though he would have loved to just sit down and drink a beer or something with alcohol to soothe his nerves.

To escape the large crowd of wizards he, after signing, greeting and being hugged by about five witches, went and entered the rather empty Diagon Alley.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: _Hey everybody, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, here is the second one. I feel like this one is slightly better tho. Hope you will enjoy this one too, I really appreciate your feedback and reviews. I will start working on chapter three soon._**

The snowflakes, which had been slowly falling upon the rooftops of the London buildings, finally settled on the ground as well. The young wizard who was stepping out into the freezing cold couldn't help but chuckle at the sight that presented himself.

Upon the last few people who would be out in this cold and much so snowy November evening, a brightly smiling young witch and a very tired but still happy young wizard who was following the first from _Eeylop's Owl Emporium_ to _Madam Malkin's Robes_ for all Occasions looking and from there across the Diagon Alley to _Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlour._

Indeed the young smiling and still quite dreamy witch, who was no one lesser than _Luna Lovegood_ herself, was dragging poor _Neville Longbottom_ who was, to be fair though, enjoying himself and his company quite well. She wanted to observe the cute little owl but then saw something in the storefront of _Madam Malkin's_ shop, where a beautiful evening dress was displayed, but rather then looking at the expensive dress, she claimed that a new crazy beast could take the form of one of those 'shiny stones' and would most likely snap out of his disguise any moment now to attack them. Then she was distracted by a new colour in the tray of Floreans Ice cream shop and wanted to investigate instantly, which she did, and Neville had to pay yet again for an ice cream cone of Butterbeer favoured ice cream.

The sight amused Harry very much, so much so that he couldn't help but laugh out loud. Neville noticed the young wizard and started smiling even more as he already had, as he realised, that the bloke who was laughing his ass of, was his old Gryffindor hose mate and battle companion _Harry Potter._ Nudging Luna and pointing towards Harry, her smile grew as she licked her ice cream cone, and walked straight up to him, giving him a hug.

"Harry *lick* it is good*lick* seeing you *lick* again" Luna said, still completely determined on finishing her cone. Harry couldn't help but chuckle as he looked down on the old Ravenclaw student "Yes, it is good seeing you booth again as well".

Back in his sixth year Harry already knew that Luna and Neville would end up together and after the battle of Hogwarts, Neville was constantly with Luna. Him killing the snake was seemingly a huge confidence boost, as he said something about confessing his love to Luna after that.

Harry's smile slowly turned into a frown as he remembered, that he could have been so happy like those two where right now if he hadn't had the row with Ginny. He could have been in his little flat with her right now, cuddling under a blanket while watching the snow slowly fall on the rooftops and trees.

"A nickel for 'em" Harry looked up at Neville seemingly surprised as he pulled him out of his thought process "hmm?" Harry said looking a little lost "Your thoughts" said Neville with a warm smile on his face. "Nargles" said Luna confidently "You need a cork necklace, that keeps them away". Harry's grin repapered and he suddenly remembered why he found the strange witch so entertaining. She would always come up with the most interesting stories and ideas, and even if she didn't know it, it would always lighten up the mood and make everyone around her smile. Though the reasons and feelings behind that may or may not differ from person to person.

"Neville can we go back to the small owl now?!" Luna asked in her usual dreamy voice "That one was really rare, it could be a relative to Buckbeak, I heard that some small owls are relatives to Hippogriffs...". And with that, she went off again. Neville and quickly excused her and saw himself off, as he tried to catch up to Luna again. Harry looked after them with the slightest hint of amusement in his eyes.

Just then he noticed again how much he was actually freezing. He needed someplace to warm himself up. There was no way he could get back into the Leaky Cauldron without being harassed by the patrons again, so he simply decided to look for a cosy shop with some interesting things to look at and maybe he would run into Neville and Luna again before heading home again.

.oOo. .oOo. .oOo.

 _Katie Bell_ was currently working in _Quality Quidditch Supplies_ , even though she had signed a contract with the _Holyhead Harpies_ , though sadly it was only the reserves so she didn't make a lot of money. At the wage she was on she wouldn't be able to afford much for herself this Christmas, she still would have to buy presents for her family.

So Katie quickly decided to try to make some more money working at the Quidditch shop in the _Diagon Alley_.

Lost in thought she cleaned the shelves and looked at the new brooms that were up for sale. She really hoped that she could buy herself a new broom, but seemingly it would be trouble enough to pay her bills in time.

She had just inherited the old house of her grandmother. She always used to love going to her, simply because she always had time for her, even if not she made some. This was to some extent the happiest time of her childhood. That and the time she was flying.

After her grandmother died, Katie used her free time training and completely shutting herself off from her social life. After every game, she went home and slept so she would get up extra early in the morning and could train a little before beginning her shift in the Quidditch store.

The life of a young Quidditch player wasn't always the best. She loved the flying and even though she didn't like the press she was able to ignore the lies the press seemingly loved to print about each and every one of her teammates and herself.

Katie's thoughts were keeping her completely occupied, so she didn't notice how a customer entered the store.

"Excuse me?" said a very familiar voice behind her. Katie jumped as she noticed her attention was needed. She turned around and looked the young man directly in his face "I'm sorry, how can I hel… HARRY?".

 **A/N: _thank you for taking the time to read the story. Please consider writing a review, I look forward to those, and I hope you will enjoy the third chapter as well. I will try taking the story a bit slower in terms of the plot simply to make it more realistic. So have patience and keep reading..._**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry guys, had to upload the chapter twice, because of a strange bug. Hope you enjoy reading this one.**

"...HARRY?!" Katie shrieked surprised.  
The young wizard stood in front of her, slightly tilting his head sideways, with a calculating look in his eyes. Didn't he remember her? Surprisingly the thought of that possibly being the case hurt her. Suddenly his eyes lit up and a smirk appeared on his face "Katie!" he exclaimed, equally as surprised as she was just a moment ago. "How have you been? I've heard you signed for the Harpies, I didn't expect to see you here" he asked his former teammate.  
In her time at Hogwarts, Katie played the chaser position in her houses Quidditch team. Harry, who was one year younger than her, always seemed to be the most promising player in the entirety of the houses squad. Now a few years later he could possibly be the Seeker for England in the next Quidditch World Cup. While she would most likely never be called up for an international tournament. Or at all.  
Katie still had one year left in her Harpies contract and wasn't sure if she was going to extend it. Quidditch was her dream after all, but she wasn't sure if it would be worth it, to wait until she maybe would get called up for the main squad and be able to live off the money she would make through that.  
After all, she wasn't a Star player like Harry who would have no problem what so ever to get a great contract. Even if he didn't, he still had and made enough money to be able to comfortably live off it.  
Suddenly she awoke from her thoughts, realising she had been staring at her former teammate for a while. She forced a smile on her face, trying to make it look as genuine as possible, as she finally spoke up "I'm fine, I'm just trying to stay close to the sport over the brake, you know?" she lied "What about you? What brings the big Mr Harry Potter into our little shop at this time of day?". Smirking at her remark he answered, "Well, seemingly the same as you then I guess".  
While saying that he looked her right into her eyes. A searching gaze, trying to find something within her. She blushed slightly while he was staring her down. She was the first to lose this contest, hardly fair with those green eyes… Wait what? Katie was shocked as she quickly dismissed the thought the had.  
"Katie? Is everything alright with you?" She heard Harry say. Pulling herself back together before she would start to get lost in her thought again. "Yes, it's just..." she didn't want to seem weak, especially not around him.  
The truth was, nothing was alright, nor was she fine. She was overwhelmed, exhausted and broken. She needed a break from all this. Some time to relax, to find herself again.  
When sitting on a broom, things like that just seemed so small and unimportant. As if she was flying away from all the problems, just to be confronted with them later on.  
Her life wasn't bad. But it could get a lot better than having to work in her holidays to afford presents for her family. Putting herself second, something the man standing right in front of her did his entire life. How was he that calm? How could he just stand there and smile at her, like it was nothing? His life was worse than hers. He needed to face things in his past, she could have never dreamed about facing. Not to mention defeating he who must not be named.  
But still, he was so relaxed, seemingly free of any worries or bad thoughts.  
"It's just… not easy right now. You know? I have to put up with a lot of things and I don't know if I have the strength to do so" she heard herself say, but was that really what she was thinking? Those are just fancy words for 'I am tired and lazy', she thought, he wouldn't care if I told him that! But I care what he thinks of me, why I don't know.  
The smirk on his face made way for a sympathetic smile, as she told him that. She could see a genuine look of compassion in his eyes.  
Suddenly feeling extremely self-conscious around him she pulled her own arms close to her body as if she was really cold. "Well," she said quickly, startling him slightly, speaking louder then she intended to be, "I'm slowly going to pack things up here and get ready to leave, my shift has been over for a few minutes already."  
Thinking that she might have come over a little unfriendly, she tried to avoid his gaze, reddening quickly in embarrassment. Well done Katie, scare off of anyone who is nice to you, that will help you immensely.  
Completely occupied by her work, she didn't notice that Harry was still in the shop leaning against one of the shelves, which was filled with scarf's of different teams from the Quidditch league, still observing her trying to figure out what was so different about the Witch he used to know.

She was kind of cute, he thought to himself as he observed her from afar. She was wearing a slightly oversized, worn out, and seemingly repaired multiple times. If she wanted to she could have magically repaired it, but decided for some reason to sew it as muggles did. She also wore some tight jeans and some pelt filled boots. Her long, slightly wavy, brown hair fell down her back like a waterfall and ended just above her waist.  
Her face was covered up the slightest by a few strands of hair. Her brown eyes revealed a lot of the things she did and didn't say.  
Harry was in no way shape or form good in reading other peoples emotions, he could tell though when people were lying to him.  
She did.  
She lied to him, when she told him she was fine, she lied to him when she told him when she told him she wasn't strong enough to deal with her problems. Harry knew her since he became the seeker of the Gryffindor house team. He considered them friends, which he couldn't say about a lot of people over the last few years.  
Slowly Harry approached Katie again, still not being able to figure out what was causing her to act not only so strange but also what possibly explain the deep sadness and exhaustion hidden behind many barriers but still visible enough to see it, speaking up and saying: "Look Katie..." she jumped at the sound of his voice, surprised that he was still there "I'm sorry if I bothered you today..." "No no no" she quickly interrupted. Was he giving himself blame for her rudeness? "It's not your fault, its just I had a long day, you were a very welcome distraction." she smiled in his face. "Still" he said with a deep undertone "I am going to leave you to your thoughts, though if you decide that you want to talk with someone else then Angelina or Alicia for a change..." he pulled out a piece of paper, grabbing one of the quills from the ink buckets at the counter, writing something down on it "… Here is where you can find me." He said as he pushed the piece of paper over the counter directly to her. "Grimmauld place number 12?" she read out loud "Yes" he said with a grin reappearing on his face. "Just pop over when you want." he said turning around to leave "but send an owl before" he said turning around one last time before stepping out back into the Diagon Alley.  
Before disapparating, he looked back at a flustered Katie through the window of the shop, winking and pop. Gone.

 **A/N: So, thank you for reading my new chapter, please tell me what you thought about it, so I can improve my writing in the future.**

 **I used Georgina Leonidas as Katie Bell (from the Movies) so she has a different appearance than the book Katie.**


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: Hey guys, sorry that I didn't upload for a while. I would have uploaded sooner, but I had to write the chapter first (obviously) and for that, I just didn't have the time over the course of the last weekend. I just had my birthday (on the 17th) and lost my trail... If you know what I mean... so I didn't quite have the time to write a complete chapter, also I am currently in my exam phase, so I have to decide between learning, writing and free time. So yeah. hope you enjoy this one and keep track of this story. I really enjoy writing it and I will try to upload at least once a week (normally Friday, Saturday or Sunday) but I will take my time, so If I don't upload one week I am maybe just working on a new chapter, gave up on the story or died. (Or choose free time but that wasn't quite as dramatic...)**_

Katie was cuddled up under some blankets with a cup of warm tea in her hand. The crackling fire in the fireplace in front of her spread a warm feeling and soothing smell throughout the house. The snow that had been falling for a few days straight, sometimes more sometimes less, had created a thick layer of snow out on the streets.

She still was thinking about the encounter with Harry a few days back. She didn't write him a letter, simply because she didn't own an owl. But she could have just bought one, or at the very least try to get a message delivered using muggle technology. Like their post-service or something like that.

But she wasn't sure if he had been just polite to her, to simply offer her to stop by when she wanted. Even if that would have been the case, she still wouldn't have any clue about what to write to him. 'Hey, I am going to stop by soon, so get ready', no that wouldn't be polite 'I was wondering if I could come over?', no what am I? A 10-year-old asking her friend to hang out? No, it needed more finesse.

Still completely lost in thought, a firm knock on the window of her living room pulled her out of her trance. She was surprised, spilling the tea in her hand, and looked up to see who was disturbing her line of thought, when a snow white owl with a letter in its beak was sitting directly outside of her window knocking firmly with said beak on the glass. "Hedwig..." She whispered to herself as she stood up, placing the now half empty cup of tea on the little side table, she rushed over to the window to let the beautiful snow owl in. As soon as the windows where open the beautiful white owl rushed in and placed the letter on the now empty armchair, landing on the headrest and looking at Katie with a curious look.

Still slightly stunned to see the bird of Harry Potter in her humble abode, looking at the letter the snow owl drooped on the place she just laid at thinking about how to start a conversation with said Harry. She grabbed one of the cookies, stored in a bowl on the table next to the cup of tea, and threw it towards the snow-covered snow Owl which caught it with its beak and started to nibble on the chocolate chip cookie.

Seeing that the owl was happy with her payment, Katie's attention was drawn back to the mysterious letter the owl dropped onto her chair. She grabbed the letter and slowly sat down again to read them in Harry's handwriting covered piece of paper.

 _Hey Katie,_

 _I'm sorry that I didn't write to you earlier, but I didn't know that you don't own an owl. Luckily I met your friend Alicia, who told me about your choice to live in your grandmother's old house and that you didn't own your own owl to communicate with her over letters. So I asked her to give me your address so I could send Hedwig over to give you my letter and told her to wait until you are done with writing a reply to get back to me. I would love for you to come and visit me soon. I really enjoyed talking to you back then, but I felt like you weren't ready to talk to me because I just dropped in on you. I would like to invite you over for dinner as repayment if you have the time. Maybe next week? Just send me an answer with Hedwig. Don't worry about waiting for too long, Hedwig is a very patient lady._

 _Yours,_

 _Harry._

 _P.S._

 _Hedwig likes chocolate chip cookies, so If you have some around, be so kind and over her one. She had a long night and this will improve your chance of being her friend._

Her eyes followed the lines, a smirk slowly appeared on her face which went on to become a full out grin and then a fully fledged smile. She got up and yelled in excitement, startling Hedwig, noticing her windows were still open she rushed to close them, so she didn't bother her neighbours, and blushed as the grumpy face of her old neighbour appeared in the window on the other side of the snow covered fence. She could only muster an apologetic smile and turned around and started to dance on in excitement about the prospect of going on a date with _Harry_ bloody _Potter_.


End file.
